Isn't it possible for the Senate to vote for Wall funding with a simple majority?
I've pondered that - I think the answer has to be YES.
The Turtle is supposed to be an expert at these things. There were rumors about a "two speech rule", etc..
Also interesting - the other night, before Christmas, POTUS filed an EO referencing the 2019 DoD authorization bill - but isn't that +/- rider exactly what the House passed and then got bottled up in the Senate?
Check this out:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/memorandum-delegation-functions-authorities-section-1245-national-defense-authorization-act-fiscal-year-2019/
MEMORANDUM FOR
THE SECRETARY OF STATE
THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
THE SECRETARY OF ENERGY
SUBJECT: Delegation of Functions and Authorities Under Section 1245 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I hereby:
a. delegate to the Secretary of State, in coordination with departments and agencies through the National Security Presidential Memorandum-4 process, the functions and authorities vested in the President by sections 1245(a)(1) and 1245(a)(2) of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2019 (Public Law 115-232); and
b. delegate to the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with departments and agencies through the National Security Presidential Memorandum-4 process, the functions and authorities vested in the President by section 1245(a)(3) of the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2019.
The delegations in this memorandum shall apply to any provisions of any future public law that are the same or substantially the same as the provisions referenced in this memorandum.
The Secretary of State is authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.
DONALD J. TRUMP
--------------------------------------
NOTE - this EO is exactly 1 year to the day as the human trafficking EO from 12/21/17.
There are dots to connect here - I just can't make much sense of these things ... except it seems that the shutdown is BY DESIGN per PLAN.
If you or anyone else has any more explanations about this I’d be grateful. That’s my understanding too - not sure what it all means, but it definitely seems planned and coordinated.
Regarding the simple majority - I posted something about that a couple of days ago and it seems that McConnell could shut down the filibuster crap at the very least. Senate rules are so arcane and complex I can’t even pretend to understand. Maybe in simple gradeschool language I could.